An unsettling call to action was issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, to the UK government this week. In a published statement, Alsalem called on the UK to take “urgent action” to end all forms of violence against women and girls, a national threat as labeled by the UK itself in June 2023.
The preliminary report focuses on the UK’s approach to violence against women and girls, comparing it against its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Istanbul Convention. Alsalem’s findings suggest the UK has room to improve in its fulfilment of these obligations, and in taking further steps to protect women and girls.
Alsalem’s statement puts a spotlight on a range of issues the UK government has to address. These problems encompass the chronic underfunding and severe backlog of the criminal justice system and the prioritization of violence against women and girls offences in policing, as stated in a 2021 report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services.
Whilst acknowledging the UK as a “stalwart supporter of gender equality,” Alsalem highlighted the grim reality that a woman is killed by a man in the UK every three days. Additionally, domestic abuse accounts for roughly 14 percent of all recorded crime in England and Wales, with the victims of these and other similar crimes predominantly being women or girls. It is reported that one in thirty women experience rape or sexual assault each year, and one in four will be subjected to domestic abuse in her lifetime.
Her comprehensive report will be formally presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2025. This serves as both a wake-up call to the UK and a reminder to the rest of the world to take action against violence towards women and girls. With the spotlight turned on the UK, their next steps could influence practices worldwide.